My daily SharePoint frustration - XIX

This error happened with SharePoint Server 2010.

The error:

********** ERROR: The template you have chosen is invalid or cannot be found.

STACK:    at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGlobal.HandleComException(COMException comEx)

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.SPRequest.ApplyWebTemplate(String bstrUrl, String bstrWebTemplateContent, Int32 fWebTemplateContentFromSubweb, Int32 fDeleteGlobalListsWithWebTemplateContent, String& bstrWebTemplate, Int32& plWebTemplateId)

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPWeb.ApplyWebTemplate(String strWebTemplate)

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPSiteCollection.Add(SPContentDatabase database, SPSiteSubscription siteSubscription, String siteUrl, String title, String description, UInt32 nLCID, String webTemplate, String ownerLogin, String ownerName, String ownerEmail, String secondaryContactLogin, String secondaryContactName, String secondaryContactEmail, String quotaTemplate, String sscRootWebUrl, Boolean useHostHeaderAsSiteName)

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPSiteCollection.Add(SPSiteSubscription siteSubscription, String siteUrl, String title, String description, UInt32 nLCID, String webTemplate, String ownerLogin, String ownerName, String ownerEmail, String secondaryContactLogin, String secondaryContactName, String secondaryContactEmail, Boolean useHostHeaderAsSiteName)

   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPSiteCollection.Add(String siteUrl, String title, String description, UInt32 nLCID, String webTemplate, String ownerLogin, String ownerName, String ownerEmail, String secondaryContactLogin, String secondaryContactName, String secondaryContactEmail, Boolean useHostHeaderAsSiteName)

[...]

What I was trying to do: 

  I was trying to create a site collection with a custom template.

The cause of the problem:

   I was following some instructions from internal documentation on how to localize the site. One step instructed me to copy the site template XML file from the English directory to 

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LCID\XML

  

  After I deleted the XML files from both English and Japanese sites, the problem went away. I didn't try to delete just from the Japanese directory.

Integral Missions and Ecumenism En Passant

    Yesterday Rev Wilson Costa was preaching at the Igreja Presbiteriana do Lago Norte in Brasília, Brazil. I and my family have been attending the church whenever possible for over a year now. Rev Wilson Costa is currently the Executive Secretary of the Fraternidade Teológica Latinoamericana seção Brasil (aka FTL-B). The pastor of Igreja Presbiteriana do Lago Norte is Rev Carlos Veiga. He is the President of FTL-B. I don't need to summarize here what is FTL-B. There is plenty of documentation available about it. I would just like to highlight here how intimately related is FTL-B with Integral Missions (Missão Integral in Portuguese and Misión Integral in Spanish). FTL-B is, indeed, the forum of Integral Missions in Latin America.
  Rev Wilson Costa preached yesterday about, well, Missions. It was a nice sermon. I liked it overall. (Despite the fact that it took about one hour. And despite another detail that I'll elaborate on below). He even read Matthew 25, for instance.
   In the middle of the sermon Rev Wilson Costa told us a "joke". It went like this: a very poor woman was in dire need. It then went on the radio to ask for help. A Pai-de-santo - the name given to male priests of Afro-Brazilian religions - then wanted to play a prank on her. He gathered lots of supplies to give away to the woman. And he asked those who would deliver it to make sure they mentioned that the supplies were given by the Pai-de-santo. And so it went. When the woman received it, she was very glad, but did not ask who gave it to her. The helpers then asked if she didn't want to know who gave it to her. She then replied: "no, I don't quite want to know. I know that if God wanted to give it to me, even the Devil would obey".
  To me the first problem with the story is the immediate association of the Pai-de-santo with the "Devil". The "Devil" or Satan for Brazilian evangelicals is the impersonation of everything evil. The association of the Afro-Brazilian religions with the "demonic" is close to xenophobia to me. Because it follows that the followers of these other religions are less-than-human. In more troubled times it may happen that basic human rights may be restricted to the followers of these other religions because of these views. Latin American history demonstrates that. This association is, therefore, disrespectful.
  The reckless narration may be better understood in the context of the carelessness of Brazilian evangelicals with ecumenism, even those engaged with Integral Missions. If there were one "group" from which you would expect more proximity with other religious it would be from folks in Integral Missions. Padilla, for instance, wrote that "if church's mission is the mission of the Kingdom of God, then it must be at the same time evangelical and ecumenical" ( "O que é Missão Integral?", René Padilla. Editora Ultimato, 2009, ISBN 978-85-7779-031-9. page 132, free translation by Gustavo) Still, incidents like these are unwarranted and go almost unnoticed.

Marcos Monteiro - Aliança de Batistas do Brasil - Eleições 2010

The Outcry of the Excluded Ones - yearly event in Brazil

Every year on September 7th happens "The Outcry of the Excluded Ones" ("Grito dos Excluídos" in Portuguese) during the celebrations of the national Independence of Brazil. "The Outcry of the Excluded Ones" happens in many major cities in parallel with the official celebrations. It is organized mostly by organic/social movements. In it, they question the "Independence" of Brazil when we know that still millions in Brazil suffer from hunger. They question the official celebrations, of which a military parade is the major attraction, trying to encourage the participation of everyone. It resembles a big block party. When money and time permits, they plan for "entertainment" for the families, including children and the elderly. In 2009 they setup a popular courtroom (unofficial), where they carried out the proceedings against the government, with the symbolic votes of the whole population.
  This year "The Outcry of the Excluded Ones" happened in conjunction with the Popular Referendum for the Limit on Land Ownership. The popular referendum is the initiative of a Forum on land reform in Brazil created years ago by 54 different entities, including unions, religious organizations, NGOs and social movements. The Referendum is not an 'official' one, as it is not carried out by the government. In it, people can vote 'YES' or 'NO' on two questions. It is one instrument for the society to express itself and for politicians to do act to progress on the neglected issue of land reform.
  As I wrote in my previous post, the statistics are sad.

• 1% of the properties occupy more than 44% of the overall owned land.
• There are 4 million families without access to land ownership.
• Urban population continues to grow rapidly and the rural population continues to decline.
• 11 million families live in "favelas" (slums) or unlawful areas, or risky areas

CPT ('Pastoral Commission of the Land' - Comissão Pastoral da Terra, a catholic entity) registers anually the violence related to land concentration. On average over the past 25 years from 1985 to 2005 there were yearly:

•  2,709 families expelled from their land !
• 63 people assassinated in land disputes !
• 13,815 families expelled by the Judiciary with orders executed by the Executive through the police
• 422 people arrested because of land disputes !
• 765 conflicts directly related to the fight for the land !
• 92,290 families involved in conflicts for the land !

In absolute numbers, over these past 25 years there were 1,163 assassination occurrences  with the death of 1,546 rural workers. Out of these 1,163 assassination occurrences  only 85 were judged, with the condemnation of 20 masterminds and 71 executioners. Out of the 20 masterminds found guilty, the only one currently arrested is Mr. Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura (Bida), found guilty for being the mastermind of the assassination of Sister Dorothy Stang (the case got international press coverage).

  Also, the very large land properties and agrobusiness often impose working conditions analogous to slavery. CPT recorded throughout these 25 years (1985-2009) 2,438 occurrences of slavery, in which there were 163,000 workers involved.

  This year I was very glad to participate actively in both "The Outcry of the Excluded Ones" and the referendum. Many families from Brazlândia - a city in the outskirts of Brasília - who have no real housing took part. They participate in a movement called Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto (MTST). Other friends from other movements also participated in the celebrations. I had the opportunity of hoping on the sound truck  and speaking to the crowd representing Evangélicos Pela Justiça (Evangelicals for Justice). It is a group still in formation that seeks to act and debate social and political issues in relation to religion. I basically said that we were there in support of the Outcry and that we support the needed land reform in Brazil. And that the disparity in the resource distribution in Brazil is absurd.

  You can see some photos below.

Milena and Samuel putting signs on the grass

This is me speaking on the sound truck

Brasília and social movements

The meeting was scheduled for 7 PM at a building downtown. I didn't know where it was exactly, but I had the address. It was a meeting to organize the Popular Referendum for the limit on land ownership in Brazil. Brazil is the second worst country in land distribution, just behind Paraguay. The statistics are very sad.

• 1% of the properties occupy more than 44% of the overall owned land.
• There are 4 million families without access to land ownership.
• Urban population continues to grow rapidly and the rural population continues to decline.
• 11 million families live in "favelas" (slums) or unlawful areas, or risky areas

CPT ('Pastoral Commission of the Land' - Comissão Pastoral da Terra, a catholic entity) registers anually the violence related to land concentration. On average over the past 25 years from 1985 to 2005 there were yearly:

•  2,709 families expelled from their land !
• 63 people assassinated in land disputes !
• 13,815 families expelled by the Judiciary with orders executed by the Executive through the police
• 422 people arrested because of land disputes !
• 765 conflicts directly related to the fight for the land !
• 92,290 families involved in conflicts for the land !

In absolute numbers, over these past 25 years there were 1,163 assassination occurrences  with the death of 1,546 rural workers. Out of these 1,163 assassination occurrences  only 85 were judged, with the condemnation of 20 masterminds and 71 executioners. Out of the 20 masterminds found guilty, the only one currently arrested is Mr. Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura (Bida), found guilty for being the mastermind of the assassination of Sister Dorothy Stang (the case got international press coverage).

  Also, the very large land properties and agrobusiness often impose working conditions analogous to slavery. CPT recorded throughout these 25 years (1985-2009) 2,438 occurrences of slavery, in which there were 163,000 workers involved.

  I arrived at the meeting. There were around 8 people, men and women. Young and old. Some of them brought snacks to share. We were discussing details of how to carry out the popular referendum on the limit of land ownership. I was there representing Evangelicals for Justice, a new group that acts on social and political matters. The sharing of the snacks turned the gathering into a holy place for me. 

Source of data: Fórum Nacional pela Reforma Agrária e Justiça no Campo

Translation: Gustavo K-fé Frederico

Fazendo uma urna para o plebiscito popular pelo limite da propriedade da terra

Comecei com uma caixa comum de papelão. Eu tinha um papel pardo também.

Coloquei o papel pardo em volta da caixa. A ideia era ter cartazes do plebiscito em volta da caixa. Quis pôr antes esse papel para deixar a superfície da caixa mais lisa.

Usei 3 cartazes para cobrir toda a superfície da urna. Alarguei o buraco com um estilete pra cédula passar fácil. Só falta pôr agora a folha de identificação da urna.